Hearts in Harmony. Gail Sattler

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      Starting Monday, it would be a good time to change his route when he took out his bicycle. Instead of the bike trail at the park, he might just cruise the neighborhood. Slowly.

      But for now, he had never anticipated attending the evening service so much.

      Celeste walked into the foyer quietly. Instead of standing alone in the growing crowd, she made her way immediately to the sanctuary. She sat in approximately the same place she had that morning and waited for the service to begin. She’d only been sitting a couple of minutes when Adrian looked up at her and smiled brightly.

      Easily recognizing the other men from Adrian’s descriptions, she watched them as they practiced, but she paid the most attention to Randy, the one on the keyboard.

      Randy seemed to be the only one obviously having fun. He would try different things, and with trying something new, he often made a mistake. Whenever that happened, Adrian also made a mistake, and then they both did the worst thing musicians in a group could do—they both paused at the same time in the middle of a song. Every time that happened, Paul, the bass guitarist, shut his eyes and kept playing until they recovered, while Bob, the drummer, struggled not to laugh. Randy would shrug his shoulders, play what he was supposed to for just a little while, then the cycle would start again.

      Watching Randy on the keyboard sent a wave of longing through Celeste. Randy wasn’t bad. He was just a little too adventurous for his own good.

      She shook her head and turned away.

      She was in church to worship God, the God who had pulled her out of the pit. She wasn’t here to critique the band.

      To distract herself, Celeste turned her attention to the others in the sanctuary. Almost everyone there was close to her own age. The evening crowd was about a third of the number who attended the morning service. Hardly any children were present. The majority of the people wore jeans, including the men of the worship team. Even the pastor was dressed casually. There wasn’t a tie to be seen in the entire crowd.

      What appeared to be the youth group occupied an entire section. In keeping with the informal setting, the worship team played only contemporary music, making Celeste guess the evening service was geared to the teens and young adults.

      Adrian and all his friends, this time, joined her during the pastor’s message, though they all returned to the front for the closing. The second the pastor announced coffee and donuts at the back, most of the seats in the church emptied.

      It didn’t take Adrian long to appear at her side.

      “If you want a donut, you’d better hurry. The youth group gets them pretty fast. Sometimes, it’s a real free-for-all.”

      Adrian’s friendly smile did little to quell her rising uneasiness. All he was doing was offering her a donut, and nothing more. She really was trying to follow what she thought was God’s direction. Adrian could have been a poster child for trustworthiness. Unlike her, he was stable enough to have bought his own house as a single man, while she was barely in a position to rent. He worked at a job he’d had for a long time. He even visited his mother often.

      Since they’d parted that afternoon, Celeste had told herself over and over that all he’d been was…nice. He’d given her no reason to doubt his sincerity, and no reason to think he was anything other than what he appeared to be.

      Adrian escorted her to the back. No one approached them, although she did notice a few people taking second glances, as she was probably the only stranger in their midst.

      She had just bitten into a powdered sugar donut when the other three men from the worship team circled around her.

      Randy, the man who had played the keyboard, stepped closer. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

      Celeste nearly choked on her donut. When she’d first told people she knew that she’d started attending church, everyone had asked her the same question, except no one called her nice. Celeste tried her best to wipe the powdered sugar from her mouth discreetly.

      Adrian sighed. “Celeste, I’d like you to meet my friends. Except if they keep it up, they won’t be my friends for much longer.” He paused. No one refuted him, so he continued. “This is Randy.”

      Again, Randy grinned. Celeste had never seen such an adorable boyish grin on a man his age, and Randy’s blue eyes were positively striking.

      “I believe you saw Paul briefly at my house.”

      The tall blond man nodded politely. “Charmed,” he said, and his expression made her think he actually meant it.

      Celeste felt herself blushing, something she hadn’t done for many years. It felt strange.

      “And this is Bob.”

      The drummer’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you here before. Welcome to Faith Community Fellowship. It’s good to have you here.”

      Celeste had enjoyed the morning service, but to be seeing everyone just being themselves completely melted away her worries. Some teens were squabbling over the last donut and all the adults were in small groups, laughing and talking. From the volume of the chatter and laughter, Celeste could barely believe she was in a church.

      Randy turned his head toward the front, and then back again. “Hey, Adrian. We’ve got all our stuff cleaned up. Maybe you should do the same. At least wind your patch cord and knock down your stands.”

      Adrian smiled. “Excuse me, Celeste. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

      As Adrian left, another man joined them. Randy introduced him as Pastor Ron.

      Celeste had never spoken to a real live pastor before. He wasn’t at all like she expected. He seemed so…ordinary.

      When the pastor excused himself, a few more people from the congregation joined them, and Randy introduced them one by one. Before long, she’d talked to so many people she couldn’t remember their names.

      By the time Adrian returned, the crowd was thinning. Randy noticed the same thing, and whispered to her that it was because the donuts were gone.

      Celeste couldn’t help herself. She liked Randy. In fact, she liked all of Adrian’s friends. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed a day so much, if she ever had. Most important, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually been able to relax in a crowd.

      Unfortunately, with relaxation came tiredness. Paul caught her stifling a yawn.

      “Excuse me,” she muttered between her fingers. “I don’t know why I’m suddenly so tired. I should go, anyway. I have to be up early for work in the morning.”

      Almost in unison, Adrian, Bob, Randy and Paul checked their watches, and Adrian said, “Let me walk you to your car.”

      She said her good-byes and made her way out with Adrian at her side.

      He waited patiently while she struggled to get the key turned in the lock the right way to open the car door.

      “Thank you for a lovely day, Adrian.”

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